You’ve heard about me being a dance mom. The multi-day competitions. Dress rehearsals. Other special rehearsals. And other special mandatory rehearsals. And dance conventions. And that thing called recital over Father’s Day weekend where it feels like all 72 hours of it are wrung out of you. I’ve surely earned my title of dance mom.
But guess what? I’ve become bad dance mom. I don’t run backstage to unzip my kid’s costume to help her get prepped for her next dance. I don’t spend oodles of dough buying gear and feathers and bedazzled hair pieces and turning boards and fancy boody shorts. And I certainly don’t feel compelled to weather ungodly numbers of dances – composed of children I don’t know – for hours and days, especially with slow wifi. So at this week’s Kids Artistic Review National competition in Vegas at the MGM, while my kid waited between her scheduled arrival time and her performance time, I snuck away for a date with my husband.
Really, I can’t even call myself bad. I got back in plenty of time to see her number. Thing is, they have the kids arrive up to 2.5 hours before their scheduled performance time in case the competition is running early or they have to make last minute changes or someone does the wrong hairstyle and they need to adjust. Things happen. Usually, I sit and wait watching every friggin’ number, half asleep by the time my daughter’s comes up. Even in a Vegas, I may tiptoe down the way for a margarita, but I’m near and available. This time, I didn’t. We didn’t. We got in the car and sped some three miles away to Lola’s Louisiana Kitchen near Vegas’ downtown. Not a total crime, as I told my kid to check in with my forever homie Jeannine if she needed anything.
Lola’s was a welcome retreat from the glitz and swiftness and chatter of the Strip. Charming easily describes it. But ambience wasn’t number one on my list. I looked for Lola’s to bring it cuisine-wise. I hoped to be taken down South for a bit – an escape from my escape. Billing itself as a Louisiana Kitchen, Lola’s had to represent.
And that they did with several dishes. My best bites of the night were my side of gouda grits and my husband’s gumbo. Also scrumptious, their take on hot crab and artichoke dip served along grilled slices of the most tender bread I’ve ever eaten. The crust stayed crisp by the pithy white insides melted like cotton candy. For my entrée, I should have ordered something more exciting than the crab cake, but I had my mind on breakfast – something that would keep well overnight in the fridge and be tasty in the morning.
The choice ended up being fine, but I think about the possibilities of other options, such as their BBQ shrimp. That will have to wait until my next trip – whether I’m in town as a semi-bad dance mom or not, I’ll be sure to make it back over to Lola’s for a little Southern hospitality in Sin City.
Lola’s – A Louisiana Kitchen
241 W. Charleston, Ste. 101 in Las Vegas and one other location